Train carried transmitting loop for train communication systems



May 3, 1949. E. w. BREISCH EI'AL 69, 02

TRAIN CARRIED TRANSMITTING LOOP FOR TRAIN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 27, 1947 INVENTORS Brez'sch Edgar and Jl-Seizz THEIR HTTORNLY E. W. BREISCH ET AL TRAIN CARRIED TRANSMITTINGLOOP FOR TRAIN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS May 3, 1949.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 27, 1947 INVENTQRS Edgar "(31 01501 2 and JLSeLiz THEIR ATTORNEY y 1949. E. W.'BRE1SCH ET AL 2,469,102

- TRAIN CARRIED TRANSMITTING LOOP FOR TRAIN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS FiledSept. 27, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet s A% w ww v 7 W F 7% A ARQAQQ m ES MQ BW5/ H mw m5 um m Na m .A MN

w @54 Q5 Q INVENTQRS. g r Brezselz and n Sel'fz THEIR ATTORNEY PatentedMay 3, 1949 TRAEN CARRIED TRANSMITTING LOOP FOR TRAIN COMMUNICATIONSYSTEMS Edgar W. Breisch, Edgewood, and John I. Seitz, Wilkinsburg, Pa,assignors to The Union Switch and Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application September 27, 1947, Serial No.776,476

6 Claims.

Our invention relates to a train carried transmitting loop for traincommunication systems, and more particularly to a transmitting loop fora steam locomotive equipped with inductive carrier telephone apparatus.

In inductive carrier railway train communication systems the track railsand conductors, such as line wires paralleling the track, form a circuitchannel which transmits the communication current along the railway, therails and paralleling conductors functioning as a transmitting channeldue to their distributed capacitance and inductance to each. other andto ground. Train carried equipments of such communication systems arecoupled to this transmitting channel through circuit elements mounted onthe train for electrical coupling to the rails or line wires or both. Inthis way communication is effected between the train carried station andanother station which may be located at some other point on the sametrain, or on another train, or at some wayside office.

The coupling arrangement for a train carried station may use independentcircuit elements for the transmitter and receiver. That is,thetransmitter of a train carried station may be connected to onecircuit element coupled to the rails or line wires, or both, and thereceiver of this train carried station may be connected to anothercircuit element coupled to the rails or line wires, or both. Aneffective form of circuit element for the transmitter has been found tobe a loop made to substantially surround the vehicle on which theequipment is mounted and connected to two pairs of wheels of the vehicleto include a length of the track rails between the two pairs, of wheelsthe loop. This loop is mounted in a vertical plane and thus it isconductively coupled to the track rails and inductively coupled to theline wires and other conductors paralleling the rails.

On steam locomotives the transmitter and receiver and the correspondingcircuit elements are preferably mounted on the tender, only the controlunit and telephone set being carried in the cab. In mounting thisequipment on a tender it i necessary that it does not interfere in thetaking on of coal and water, and also that the equipment is not whereany part of it can be damaged during servicing of the locomotive.

Accordingly, a feature of our invention is the provision of a novel andimproved transmitting loop for a steam locomotive having carrierinductive telephone equipment mounted thereon.

Other features-objects and advantages of our 2 invention will appear asthe specification progresses.

To accomplish the foregoing features, objects and advantages of ourinvention, we provide the tender of a steam locomotive with a singleturn loop, one end of which is terminaled to the hearing boxes for therear pair of tender wheels and the other end terminaled to the bearingboxes of the front pair of tender wheels. The loop is formed for themost part by relatively large tubular conductors having a heavy cover ofinsulation. The conductor is run vertically at the rear of the tenderand then forwardly over the top of the rear portion of the tender to apoint just back of the coal hopper. Here the loop conductor is carriedin a conduit or steel pipe inserted through the water tank. At the lowerend of the steel pipe the loop conductor is connected to one side of asecondary winding of an output transformer, the primary winding of whichtransformer is connected to the transmitter. The other side of thesecondary winding of the transformer is connected to a loop conductorwhich is carried forwardly under the water tank to a point about evenwith the forward truck and from which point it is cable connected to thebearing boxes of the forward pair of Wheels. To provide ample mutualinduction of this loop with line wires and other wayside conductors, theloop is carried over the top of the tender as high above the tender topas clearance limits will permit.

Because this elevated portion of the loop may interfere with\vaterspouts being lowered to deliver water into the tender tank, thisloop conductor over the tender is provided with a U- shaped sectionhinged at both ends so that this curved section can be manually rotateddegrees. This U-shaped section of the loop is supported so that it canlie in a horizontal plane on either side of the center line of thetender. If a waterspout is to be lowered to the usual tank opening fromthe side on which this section of the transmitting loop is at the timelying, the section may be manually moved upward through an arc ofdegrees coming to rest on its supports on the side opposite of thetender center line, and in which position it is out of the way of thewaterspout. To permit this rotation of the curved section of the loopwithout disturbing the electrical continuity of the loop, specialconnectors are provided for joining each end of the curved section tothe adjacent stationary sections of the loop. 1

We shall describe one form of a transmitting loop circuit embodying ourinvention and shall then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are side, top and rearviews, respectively, showing a tender of a steam locomotive having atransmitting loop embodying our invention mounted thereon. Figs. 4 and 5are plan and sectional views, respectively, showing the means forelectrically joining a curved section of the trans mitting loop with astationary straight section of the transmitting loop of Figs. 1, 2 and3. Fig. 6 is a phantom view showing by an enlarged scale the means forelectrically joining the curved and stationary sections of thetransmitting loop of the previous figures.

In each of the different views like reference characters are used todesignate similar parts.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character LT designates thetender of a steam locomotive having inductive carrier telephoneequipment mounted thereon. This telephone equipment is shown only asnecessary for a full understanding of our invention and it may be anyone of several different arrangements. For example, the telephoneequipment may be similar to that shown in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates No. 2,064,6{12Qgrante'cl December 15, 1936, to Paul N. Bossart,for Railway train communication systems, or it may be similar to thatdisclosed in an application for Letters Patent of the United States,Serial No, 575,311, filed January 30, 1945, by Paul N. Bossart, forRailway train communication systems.

The transmitter, receiver, and power unit of the telephone equipment arehoused in an equipment box EB which is suspended from the frame of thetender underneath the left-hand side of the taiik about midway betweenthe front and rear trucks. The transmitter housed in this box EB isconnected to a primary winding of anoutput transformer OT which ishoused in a suitable case that is suspended from the frame of the tenderunder the tank near the equipment box,

the connections from the transmitter to the transformer being run in aconduit It. A secondary winding of the output transformer OT isconnected to a transmitting loop that embodies our invention. Thistransmitting loop will be arranged to best suit the specificconstruction of the tender on which it is mounted but in all cases thegeneral arrangement will be similar to that here disclosed. As hereshown, one terminal of the secondary winding of the output transformeris connected to a conductor H which is' run forward under the tank tothe front tender truck where the conductor ll is terminaled to the truckframe at 13, the conductor ll being secured in place by supports E2. Theframe of the front truck is electrically connected to the bearing boxesof the front pair of wheels M by conductors 15, there being one suchconductor 15, to the bearing box at each of the pair of wheels l4.

The other terminal of the secondary winding of the output transformer OTis connected to a conductor ll extending up through a steel pipe orconduit I8 inserted vertically through the tank of the tender at a pointjust .back of the coal hopper. The top of the vertical conductor I1 isfitted by an elbow connector to a conductor l9 is carried horizontallyabove the top of the rear portion of the tender, the conductor I9 beingpreferably located on the center line of the tender. The conductor 19 isclamped in place to a framework 20, which as here shown is constructedof timbers of substantial size to form a relatively rigid support. Inthe form of tender here shown, a so-called dog house 22 is mounted onthe top of the tender just back of the coal hopper for a member of thetrain crew to ride as a lookout and the conductor I9 is carried insupport 2| secured to the top of the dog house 22. This mounting ofconductor l9 brings it about as high above the top of the tender asclearance limits for vehicles will permit.

The tender LT is provided with an opening 23 in the usual manner forreceiving water, and which opening is fitted with a cover of thecusternary construction. In taking water the cover plate is thrown openand the water-spout of the usual water plug is lowered for one end toextend into this opening 23. The conductor 19 if run back to the rear ofthe tender would interfere with the lowering of the waterspout, andsince the water plug may be on either side of the track and thewaterspout lowered over either side of the tender', the conductor I9 isended at a point A forward from the opening 23 a sufiicie'nt distancefor the conductor [9 to be free from the a copper tube shrunk fittedover a steel tube and over which copper-steel tube a tube of elasticmaterial, such as extruded rubber, is shrunken. B y such construction,the conductor of the transmitting loop is one that is relatively ruggedin construction and may be used as a hand rail, the rubber coveringprotecting the train crew from shock when the conductor is gripped. In apreferred construction, the copper-steel tube of the conductor may havean outside diameter of the order or 1% inches and the total outsidediameter of the conductor may be of the order of 1% inches. For example,the construction of the conduetor may be similar to that disclosed in anapplication for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 643,102,filed January 24, 1946, by Edgar W. Breisch, for an Insulated electricalconductor and the process of making same.

As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the conductor I9 is secured in place bysupports 26 and 21 carr'i'ed on the frame 20, the support 21 being nearto the point A and the conductor [9 being cut off just beyond thesupport 21. The rubber cover of the conductor i9 is removed from theconductor where it extends beyond the support 21 to receive a clampingconnector 28 which is clamped over the outside of the copper tube of theconductor. A solid steel bar 29 is pressfitted into the steel tube ofthe conductor I9, the bar 29 being about two feet long to assure a goodlow resistance contact between the bar and the inside of the tube of theconductor IS. The tubing of the conductor is is slotted as shown at 3Bin Fig. 6 to aid in the tubing being brought into engagement with thebar 29 when the connector 2B is drawn down tight by bolts 3!. The outerend of the bar 29 is formed with a section 32 of a larger diameter, theshoulder of section 32 fitting up against the clamping connector 28 with"a Slight "clearance.

A T-connecwr 33 is fitted over the enlarged section 32 of bar 29, theconnector 33 being rotatable on the enlarged section 32 of bar 29 as abearing. The inside of the stem portion 34 of the T-connector 33 ismachined to receive a tapered clamping sleeve and clamping nut whichaccept and clamp the end of the curved conductor 25, the end ofconductor 25 having its rubber cover removed and its copper Clad steeltube cleaned to make a good electrical connection in the stem 34. Theouter end of the Section 32 of bar 29 is drilled and tapped to receive atap bolt 35, a washer 36 being placed under the head of the tap bolt 35and made of a diameter for it to hold the T-connector 33 in place on thesection 32 of bar 29. The clamp 28 is provided with a connector 31 whichis an integral part of clamp 28 and is machined to receive a taperedclamping sleeve and clamping nut 38 to which one end of a flexible cable39 is secured. The other end of the cable 39 is secured to a lug whichis an integral part of stem portion 34 of the T-connector 33, and whichis machined to receive a tapered clamping sleeve and clamping nutidentical to those for connector 31 on clamp 23. Due to the short lengthof flexible cable 39, a connection of very low inductance is obtained.It follows that a connection is formed between the conductor [9 and thecurved conductor 25, the conductor 25 being rotatable at right angles tothe axis of the conductor l9 without disturbing the electricalconnection between the two conductors.

At the rear of the tender, that is, back of the opening 23 of the tendertank, a conductor 4! is supported on a frame 42 to align the conductor4! with conduct-or I9. The conductor 4! extends to the rear from a pointB back of the opening 23 in the tender tank, the point B beingpreferably spaced a distance from the opening 23 equal to the distancethe point A is spaced forward of the opening 23.

At the point B, the conductor 4| is connected to the other end of thecurved conductor 25 through a rotatable joint that is similar to thatprovided at location A, for connecting conductor Hi to the curvedconductor 25 and the description of such rotatable joint need not berepeated. To be specific, the curved conductor 25 is formed with a 90degree arcuate section of a radius of the order of eighteen inches, astraight portion of the order of four feet, and a second 90 degreearcuate section to the point B.

Arcuat'e supporting members 43 and 44 are made a part of the frameworks2i) and 42, respectively. These members is and 44 extend each side ofthe center line of the tender and are curved to agree with the curvatureof the U-shaped conductor 25 so that the members 43 and 44 serve to holdthe curved conductor 25 in the same horizontal plane as the conductorsl9 and 4|. From the foregoing description it is clear that the curvedconductor 25 can be rotated over to the left of the center line of thetender. as shown by the solid line of Figs. 2 and 3. or it can be swungfrom this left-hand position through an arc of 180 degrees to come torest on its supports at the right-hand side of the tender center line.Also, it can be swung from its right-hand position back to its left-handposition.

The conductor 4| is ended near the rear end of the tender, and here itis connected by an elbow connector 45 to a conductor M; which extendsdownward and across the rear of the tender to a point near the left-handrear corner of the tender. At this point the conductor 46 is joined to aconductor 41, the two conductors 46 and 41 being secured by a support 48fixed to the tender top. The conductor 41 is then joined to a verticalconductor 49 carried in a conduit or steel tube 50 inserted through thetank. At the lower end of the tube 50, the conductor 49 is joined to ahorizontal conductor 5| secured on the underside of the tank by supports52, the conductor 5| being terminaled at 53 to the frame of the reartender truck. From the truck frame, the connection is carried throughflexible cable conductors M and 55 to the bearing boxes of the rear pairof wheels 56.

It is clear from the foregoing that we have provided the tender LT witha transmitting loop that is effectively coupled to both the track railsand to line wires paralleling the track. Also, the curved U-shapedsection of the transmitting loop is capable of being manually moved toeither the right or left-hand side of the tender to be in the clear ofwaterspouts when water is being supplied to the tank without disturbingthe electrical continuity of the transmitting loop. That is, normally,the section 25 remains in the horizontal position on one side of thetender. When the locomotive takes water at a location where thewaterspout swings downward over the tender on the same side as thecurved section of the transmitting loop, then this curved section isswung over to the other side to be out of the way of the waterspout.Furthermore, no part of the transmitting loop is in a position where itmay be injured or interfered with when coal is being delivered into thehopper of the tender.

The advantages and usefulness of such a transmitting loop will beapparent to all those responsible for the maintenance and the operationof railway train communication systems of the type here involved.

Although we have herein shown and described but one form of a traincarried transmitting loop for train communication systems embodying ourinvention, it is understood that various changes and modifications maybe made therein within the scope of the appended claims withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In railway train communication equipment mounted on a steamlocomotive the tender of which has an opening in the top of its tank fortaking on water, a transmitting loop mounted on said tender andincluding a front and a rear conductor fixedly supported in a givenhorizontal plane above the tender top and aligned on the longitudinalcenter line of the tender, said front and rear conductors having theirnear ends spaced approximately an equal distance in front and to therear respectively of said opening, a U-shaped conductor to join saidnear ends of said front and rear conductors, two connectors one for eachend of said U-shaped conductor. each said connector having a clamp togrip the respective fixed conductor and a rotatable clamp to grip therespective end of the U-shaped conductor to permit the U-shapedconductor to be rotated from said horizontal plane on one side of saidtender center line upward and over to said horizontal plane on the otherside of the tender center line to avoid interference of said loop withthe lowering of a waterspout to said tank opening from either side ofthe tender, an other conductors to join the far ends of said front andrear conductors.

2. In railway train communication equipment mounted on a steamlocomotive tender and having a, train carried transmitter coupled to awayside transmitting channel; a transmitting loop which is made up ofconductors that run parallel to the longitudinal center line of thetender below the tender tank, vertical at the rear and forward portionsof the tender and parallel to said tender longitudinal center line agiven distance above the top of the rear portion of the tank; theconductors above the top of the tank comprising a front and a rearstationary conductor and a movable conductor, said front and rearstationary conductors having their adjacent ends a fixed distance to thefront and rear respectively of an opening of the tank top for taking onwater, said movable conductor U-shaped to span between said adjacentends of the front and rear conductors and to curve around said opening,two connectors to join the ends of said movable conductor to saidadjacent ends of said front and rear conductors; and each said connectorhaving stationary clamps to grip the respective ends of the stationaryconductors, rotatable clamps to grip the respective ends of the movableconductor and flexible connectors to connect said stationary androtatable clamps.

3. In a transmitting loop mounted on a tender of a steam locomotive forcoupling a transmitter of locomotive carried communication equipment toa wayside transmitting channel, the combination comprising; horizontalconductors extending lengthwise underneath the tender tank, veriticalconductors one near the rear of the tender and one toward the forwardportion of the tender and other horizontal conductors disposedlengthwise of the tender a given distance above the tender top; saidother conductors including a first and a second stationary conductor anda movable conductor, said first and second conductors disposed for theirfar ends to be connected to said front and rear vertical conductorsrespectively and their near ends to lie a definite distance in front andto the rear respectively of an opening in the top of the tender tank fortaking on water, said movable conductor U-shaped to join said near endsof said first and second conductors and to curve around said tankopening, and two connectors one to join each end of said movableconductor to a respective end of said first and second conductors; andeach said connector including a stationary clamp to grip the respectiveend of the stationary conductor, a rotatable clamp to grip therespective end of said movable conductor and a flexible connectorbetween said two clamps; whereby said movable conductor can be movedfrom a horizontal plane on one side of said tank opening upward throughan arc to a horizontal plane on the other side of the tank opening.

a. In a transmitting loop mounted on a tender of a steam locomotive forcoupling a transmitter of locomotive carried communication equipment toa wayside transmitting channel, the combination comprising; a secondarywinding of a transformer a primary winding of which is connected to saidtransmitter, said secondary winding having one terminal connected to aforward pair of wheels of the tender and its other terminal connected toa forward vertical conductor extending from beneath the tender tank to agiven distance above the top of the tender tank, horizontal conductorsextending lengthwise of the tender at said given distance above thetender top from said forward vertical conductor to a point at the rearof the tender, a rear vertical conductor connected to said horizontalconductors at said point at the rear of the tender, other conductors toconnect said rear vertical conductor to a rear pair of tender wheels,said horizontal conductors including a movable conductor between a frontand a second stationary conductor, said movable conductor U-shaped tocurve around an opening of the tender tank for taking on Water, arotatable connector to connect each end of said movable conductor to therespective ends of said first and second stationary conductors to permitthe movable conductor to be rotated from a horizontal plane on one sideof said tank opening upward through an arc to a horizontal plane on theother side of said tank opening.

5. In a transmitting loop mounted on a tender of a steam locomotive forcoupling a transmitter of locomotive carried communication equipment toa wayside transmitting channel, the combination comprising; means toconnect one output terminal of said transmitter to a forward pair ofwheels of the tender, means including a front vertical conductor toconnect the other output terminal of the transmitter to the forward endof horizontal conductors which extend lengthwise of the tender a givendistance above the top of the tender at the longitudinal center line ofthe tender, and means including a rear vertical conductor to connect therear end of said horizontal conductors to a rear pair of wheels of saidtender; said horizontal conductors including a movable curved conductorinterposed between a front and a rear stationary conductor, movableconductor formed to curve around an opening in the top of the tank ofthe tender for taking on water and joined to said front and rearstationary conductors by a rotatable connector, and each said connectorcomprising a fixed clamp which grips the respective stationary conductorand a rotatable T-shaped clamp which grips the respective end of themovable conductor and is journaled on the end of the respectivestationary conductor to permit said movable conductor to be positionedon one side of said tank opening and to be swung upward through an arcto the other side of the tank opening.

6. In a transmitting loop mounted on a tender of a steam locomotive forcoupling a transmitter of locomotive carried communication equipment toa wayside transmitting channel, the combination comprising; means toconnect one output terminal of said transmitter to a forward pair ofwheels of the tender, means including a front vertical conductor toconnect the other output terminal of the transmitter to the forward endof horizontal conductors which extend lengthwise of the tender a givendistance above the top of the tender at the longitudinal center line ofthe tender, and means including a rear vertical conductor to connect therear end of said horizontal conductors to a rear pair of Wheels of saidtender; said horizontal conductors including a movable curved conductorinterposed between a front and a rear tubular stationary conductor, saidmovable curved conductor formed to curve around an opening in the top ofthe tank of the tender for taking on water and joined to said front andrear stationary conductors by a rotatable connector; each saidconnectors comprising a bar pressed into the end of the respectivestationary conductor and its end formed as a journal, a fixed clampwhich grips the outside of the respective stationary conductor, aT-shaped clamp which grips the respective end of the movable con- 9 10ductor and is journaled on said bar, and a flexible REFERENCES CITEDcable to connect said fixed and T-shaped clamps; whereby said movableconductor can be carried g gfig sigf are of record m the on one side ofsaid tank opening and rotated over p to the other sid of the tankopening with the 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS electrical continuity of said100p undisturbed. Number Name Date figgfi g 1,621,182 Weaver Mar. 15,1927 2,064,642 Bossart Dec. 15, 1936

